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More than a third of people have not seen a single police officer on the beat in their local area in the last year and say the situation is getting worse, according to a survey for Her Majesty’s Inspectorateof Constabulary (HMIC).

More than a third said the frequency of seeing police on foot in their local area had decreased in the past year while a fifth said they had not even seen any officers in a police car in the past year, almost double the proportion of the previous year.

Almost half (48%) said they were unhappy with the number of times they saw police on foot in their local area and 35% were dissatisfied with the frequency of car patrols.

John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said the findings reflected the loss of almost 22,000 officers since 2010 which meant neighbourhood policing and police response teams had been “cut to the bone.”

“Our communities deserve better - and we want to deliver - but in order to do that we need an immediate and significant, centrally-funded investment from the Government, without this my colleagues will struggle to provide the service they joined up to provide,” he said.

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It comes amid a rise in violence with knife crime up by 22% to an eight-year high and gun crime up by 11% and will increase pressure on the Government in the run-up to the comprehensive spending review this Autumn.

The findings, based on a survey of 17,000 people by BMG Research, found more than three quarters of the public believed a visible police presence was important to prevent crime, deter criminals and provide “reassurance” and “peace of mind.”

More than a fifth (22%) of the public felt the service provided by police had got worse in the past year, against 8% who said it had got better. Some 58% reported no change.

They also perceived crime to have risen. Some 40% said crime and anti-social behaviour in 2018 was either a very big or quite a big problem in their local area, up from 30% in 2017.

Overall satisfaction with the police, however, remained high with 61% were satisfied with their local police, up on the level for 2017. Only 12% were dissatisfied.

Of those who were unhappy with the police, the most common reasons were their perceptions that police had not taken action against crimes or lack of visibility.

Asked to list what crimes police should prioritise, they cited terrorism or extremism (49%), child sexual exploitation or abuse (46%) and violent crime (41%). The least important were commercial or business crimes (27%), online abuse (22%) and anti-social behaviour (19%).

Some 42% of respondents felt local police were dealing effectively with anti-social behaviour and crimes that mattered to them in their area, with only 19% disagreeing.

There was more consensus that online crime was a problem (81%) and most (63%) considered it to have got worse over the past 12 months.

Confidence in local police to effectively deal with online crime has increased to 34% against 26% in 2017, which HMIC acknowledged was still relatively low.

There was a majority in favour of stop and search (51%) as an effective strategy to prevent crime, with just 14% against, though a third admitted they did not know enough to pass judgement.

Most respondents (60%) had had no contact with the police in the past year and where they had, it was either as a witness (11% of all respondents), or as a victim of crime (10%).

Six in 10 (61%) were happy with their contact with police.

Mr Apter said it was reassuring that most people still supported policing but it also showed “the cuts are increasingly evident to the communities we serve.”

Last month Sajid Javid, the home secretary, announced a £970m cash boost for police which was hailed as the first significant increase since 2010, but most police chiefs see the comprehensive spending review as a more critical test.